Baa Baa Sheeps

Seeing that I hear, on average, the Baa Baa Black Sheep song about 600 times a day.. I knew it was a good idea to make a sheep. I started with Nolan's (our little baby that hasn't even entered the world at 40 weeks 1 day). His sheep is the gray one. I didn't really anticipate making two, but Hudson said to me "when mommy all done making Nolan's sheep, Mommy make Huddy one too!" Well. I had to. And so glad I did.




Baa Baa Black sheep has made his way into the favorite animal crew. Makes a momma very happy :)

December Presents Round Three

My friend, Alyssa, had a little boy a few months back. He is so super sweet and I can't wait to meet him one day. For his Christmas present, I made him a little hat to keep him warm in the East Coast winter. It was my first time using ear flaps. I need to make more of these.


For Alyssa and family, I made homemade napkins. I love making and using cloth napkins. Something about them.. just so pretty! and they look great on a table.



Once I find a new rhythm with two kids, I plan on selling the napkins in my Etsy store. Probably come Spring or Summer.

December Presents Round Two

Continuing in my theme to have people open their gifts WAY before Christmas... I bring you some more hand made holiday goodies.

These were made for my sister in law and her two little ones.

For my sil, I did another apron. She loves the cook and makes some of the most amazing meals. When we lived closer, I would love the thought of going to her house to devour one of her many delicious meals. I know she will put this apron to good use.



For my nephew, I was trying out a new sweater pattern with some very great yarn. I love this yarn and have more things to show you from it. When I finished knitting it, I was reluctant to add anything to it, but knew that a 4 year old would be WAY happier with a little something.. enter the bike design (made of felt).


And, his birthday is this month... same day as mine to be exact (I will never forget his bday ;-) I made him a felt pencil/crayon/marker holder. It was my first time making this and I so enjoyed it. Huddy has one waiting to be opened now.





Last but certainly not least, is my niece. I knit her a little dress and bought her a pair of adorable leggings (not pictured). Oh I love making girlie things! Probably a good thing I am not having a girl ;-)

December Presents Round One

My best friend and I have our birthday's in the same month... December! Oy!

I decided this year to try my hand at making an apron. I really love Anthropologie aprons and thought that I should be able to create a version myself. These are the two aprons that I used as a guide.



And here is what I came up with: I really wanted to try it on and take a pic, but, you know, it didn't quite fit over my belly ;-)


And in that package was her Christmas gift which she has opened and cozied up with. A scarf of many tiny stitches. I love it. It's soft, cuddly, and such a vibrant color. I am sure it looks amazing on her.



I am also not a fan of wrapping paper. This year I bought a few yards of Muslin fabric, added a couple of stamps and designs, and packaged gifts that way. It seemed most fitting for handmade gifts.



Stay Tuned.. there are many more to share. Happy Birthday Jordan!

Thanksgiving knits

I was so happy that my little man was happy to wear his Thanksgiving sweater vest! There is nothing quite like seeing your creations on your little ones.

Things have been busy over here at Made By Lora. Even though quiet on the blog.. I have been crafting away for the Holidays. I have so much to share, but seeing that all my recipients are readers of the blog.. I have to keep the images for a later date.

I am almost 36 weeks pregnant and on a slight bed rest to help keep baby Nolan from coming too early. Cold days. Slow days. Crafting days.

More to come... But here are some pics of little man on Thanksgiving and at the Christmas parade.



Oh how I tried to get him to let me take a picture of him while standing, looking at me, and showing off his new vest... that did not happen ;-) Too busy!


Mommy and Huddy walking to the Christmas parade (against doctor's request for me to stay home and rest..oops!). I finally made something for myself! This hat was pretty easy to knit. I did all the knitting while my husband got Little Man ready for bed. It is super comfy and I just love it. Huddy's hat and scarf was to fulfill a "mommy I want a purple hat and a pink scarf!" request from my guy.

Hats for Little Man

I love it when the weather turns cold. The leaves change. The air is crisp. AND that means that I can start to dress my kid in a lot of hand made knits. I was slightly panicked when I put his first knit hat on this fall and he met me with resistance.. "No Hat Mommy!" He soon learned that was not an option ;-) Good boy!

Don't you just love hand knits.

The owl makes it even more desirable for him to wear it!

For Sweet Sarah

A friend of mine had a sweet little girl a couple of months ago. On our whirlwind trip down to the Bay Area we had a tiny bit of time to stop and say "hi!" I knew I wanted to make her a little dress and so happy with the outcome. I love making girl things.. especially when my house will be dominated by little boys!! ;-)

Welcome to the world little Sarah. Can't wait to see it on you.

Curtains

After a couple of trips to the Nikon repair department, my camera is back! Yea!!

I realized I haven't posted any pics of my finished curtains. I am so in love. This project took 2 days (about 13 hours) of work. The hardest part was making the curtains exactly even. It makes such a difference in the room.

Advent Calendar

Advent Calendar is here: On Made By Lora.

One of my favorite childhood memories was of an advent calendar that my mom would hang on my door come Christmas time. Every morning I would wake up and move the mouse to a new spot. One day closer to Christmas AND one day closer to my birthday! I was very excited to ask my mom for said Advent Calendar to give to my son, but BEHOLD, she threw it out when she moved in 2009!!!! After many sleepless nights (only kidding) I decided to pull out the felt and start making my own. Now I have an Advent Calendar for my son (although I am thinking I probably should make another since I have another little one on the way)that he can move the mouse each day to get one day closer.....







Order yours today. Orders for this will close before Thanksgiving.

Cheers!
Lora

Rhythm of the Home

There is a wonderful website that I read that deserves a shout out here. Rhythm of the Home is a great resource for parents that are looking to bring more balance into their family and home life. It is filled with seasonal crafts to do with your children, recipes for the seasons, ideas and tips on how mother's can take better care of themselves, and much more. The website has seasonal updates and the blog more frequent updates. Here is the link for the blog: Rhythm of the Home blog.

When I opened up the website this morning (before my dreaded root canal that is taking place in 40 minutes) I was reminded of the calmness of the season that is approaching. A feeling of crisp days and warm drinks, a time for nesting, a time for cherishing (even more so) every minute I have with my toddler, and just being content with this wonderful life that I have been given.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I.

cheers!
Lora

Autumn

Autumn.

I think it might be my favorite season, followed closely by winter. Today it is 60 degrees in our little town. It's a far cry from the 106 on Tuesday! It is welcomed. I love Autumn. As my pregnancy has been progressing, I have spent more time walking outside to get exercise. Today as we walked I breathed in the crisp air and every inch of my being was overcome with happiness from the hopeful change of season.

Growing up in Indiana, then moving to California... I complained, profusely, of the lack of seasons. I am a "season" girl.

With September closely approaching, and an overwhelming feeling of needing to nest a bit (even though I am only 6 months pregnant), I have found myself spending many hours knitting and canning. My little man (and big man for that matter) love berries.. the middle of summer was spent freezing berries. Then the peaches joined the farms.. I had to do something with peaches. I canned a good 8 jars of cut peaches and then made peach jam. Thinking of us all sitting at the table come December eating fresh homemade peach jam sounded divine.

Canning. Canning is not for the weak, slightly not for the pregnant because it requires a lot of standing and attention. My back was killing me after a days work. But in the end, I was more than giddy to see my jars all lined up and ready for fall and winter.


Today. Today I am making pasta sauce. I am awaiting the finishing mark so I can store them in the freezer while my house is consumed with the aroma of sauce.

Bread Making. My mom made this bread when I was growing up. It is called the Amish Friendship Bread. It takes 10 days to process and then you only use a cup to bake and then share the starter with others. I will make many loaves and freeze them, and hopefully share with my mother in law. I hope my mom finds time to make this bread in her busy schedule. It's a very fond memory of mine growing up. Please let me know if you would like the recipe.




Knitting. Many pictures to come once I have 100% completed all my knits. My recent quests have been a sweater for little man, a vest for little man, a vest for baby boy #2, and hats.

Reading. Today after visiting my local knitting store and convincing myself that I was only in need of buttons (no more yarn until other projects are complete), I stepped into our local bookstore. I was overly joyed to see two new books in the window for little man H. When I arrived home, and he found his way to my bag (the books were supposed to be a surprise), he came to me with the tightest hug around the books and said to me "Look Mommy, look at these books!" The sight of his eyes melted my heart. My good friend Cindy once told me that her dad would say "there was no budget on books" and I agree!



Right now my life feels great. My energy is heightened. I am so in love with my family. I crave time with my extended family. Welcoming many visitors. And preparing our lives for our arrival this December.

Do you have fond Autumn memories to share? Please do! Take time to introduce yourself. I am very excited to have you here.

California Tee Etsy Order

Last week I received an order for a California themed felt tee. I love the colors of this shirt for a little girl. The bright blue to represent the water and the bright yellow poppy.

Thank you Alyssa for your order!

Many Many projects

Seriously.

Around this time of year I get the "crafting" itch. It's a real problem at times because I can have many, MANY projects going on all at once. Not only going on, but a will and desire to have them all finished YESTERDAY!

a) I am pregnant (tired)
b) I have a 2 year old (tired)

So, I am pushing myself. Not hard to motivate, just hard to find the time.

Right now, I have a few projects on my plate:

I am:

- currently working on a raglan sweater for my little man. I love knit sweaters. I love that we are going to live in a place that requires many wooly goodies. I started making this great sweater last week when I noticed I was using the WRONG yarn for the white. I grabbed a ball of white yarn out of my knitting (in use) project bag and just started going to town. There was one point (early in the knitting process) that I thought to myself (hmmm.. there wasn't very much yarn in this ball!) Well that would be because you are using the wrong ball! UGH! So the project was halted because I had to order a new ball of yarn.. I know.. long story.. but I was peeved. Crafting Peeves. HAHA! My life of stresses ;-)


- currently planning my great curtain assembly. I have the fabric. I am ready. These are mostly for decorative purposes because the window is so big and we have great blinds.





- currently making a dress. I hate maternity clothes and wanted to make a dress for my upcoming trip to New York. I don't know if it will turn out because a pregnant 20 week body, is no regular body. It's looking good though, but it's going to need some nipping and tucking (the dress. not my body)


- currently searching the internet for great fall decorating and crafting ideas. and making my handmade christmas list. and finding things to make for the baby. Slightly crazy!
And my husband just came into the office and said "WHAT? You're not sewing!!!!" Well we got home late from dinner and I just had to blog about my craft craziness.

Coming soon. A finished gift for my dear friend Alyssa's baby, Bryce! I can't wait to share!